There have been a lot of heavy thing on my mind the past few weeks. I'm feeling the need for a post that's less serious, more fun. If you don't like horror movies, you might not find this one as interesting.
To me, horror movies are a form of escapism. For a short time we can visit a world where the horrors are make believe, and we can then exit that world hopefully with a little perspective on our real life horrors.
Hollywood seems to be stuck in a remake zone. The results are hit or miss. When things are basically just copied from the original material, in my opinion, we have a miss on our hands. If the original warrants a remake, chances are, it's already a great movie. Adding modern special effects and current stars doesn't really make things better for me, and chances are whatever made the original great had nothing to do with effects of star power. I also feel that all of the money and effort put into a remake would be just as well spent on something completely new that hasn't been done before.
For me, a remake works when it ventures into re-imagining territory. I want something new. I don't see the sense in watching a "new" movie that takes me through the same exact experience I could go through by watching the original.
When I was about five years old, my older cousin tricked me into watching the original Halloween on television one night. Keep in mind, home entertainment in the late seventies, early eighties consisted of your television and nothing else. We didn't have cable and VCRs were years away. So, we watched a highly edited, prime time television version of Halloween. To be honest, I didn't make it past the first five minutes. I was scared out of my mind. I cried and screamed until she turned the channel, probably to Welcome Back Carter.
I was scared out of my mind, but a seed had also been planted. My boogey man was now Michael Meyers, the main monster in the Halloween series. A few short years later, when I started to love horror movies, Halloween held a special place for me.
For those unfamiliar with the franchise, the original set of movies has a mythos about it. There are all these unanswered questions that add to the fun: What are his motivations? Is he being controlled by outside forces? Is he somehow supernatural or just extremely driven? Why Halloween? Why would a kid kill his older sister? Is that really a William Shatner mask? There was even an early novelization that tried to answer some of these questions.
Chances are, if you love the older Halloween movies, you love the mystery. In talking with other fans, you find that everyone has their own opinions about those mysteries. The mystery is a big part of the fun. Examining the possibilities brought fans together.
I think this is why so many Halloween fans hated the Rob Zombie movies. In his re-imagining, he left out the mystery all together. His first movie starts with a clear explanation of what causes young Michael to snap. Any mystery left at the end of the first movie (why is he chasing his younger sister?) is cleared up by the end of the second movie.
I get why fans of the originals hate the "remakes." I think they hate them because they're not exactly remakes. They're more re-imaginings. This group of movies leaves out what they loved about the originals.
I love the originals. The reason the remakes don't upset me is that I can always return to the originals. They're available on DVD, and they're still chock full of everything I originally loved: the suspense, the dread, they still ooze everything Halloween.
The things is, I enjoyed the remakes too. They're still horror movies. They still shock and horrify me. They're well written and the acting isn't bad. I don't love them as much as I love the originals, but I see no reason to hate them. They don't destroy the originals. The originals exist on their own. If you have to have a dose of the mystery, visit the originals, ignore the new films, but don't deny fans the opportunity to see this new aspect of old favorites.
There's a new Nightmare on Elm Street remake coming out soon. To be honest, I never liked the originals. The hokier they got, the less I tolerated them. So, I have hope for this remake too. I'm hoping it's more of a re-imagining. I hope the character of Freddy has more carve than camp.
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